Google Earth Nets 1 Billion Downloads

One-seventh of the Earth’s population has downloaded Google Earth over its six years in existence, using the tool’s 3D-mapping to virtually explore the globe. It’s a staggering statistic by any measure.

To celebrate the occasion, Google has introduced “One World Many Stories,” a repository of virtual expeditions, offering the users the chance to follow Neil Armstrong’s path along the surface of the Moon or swim along the Titanic’s shipwreck (as “Earth” now boasts underwater exploration), among other adventures.

Originally designed by Keyhole, Inc., a CIA-funded company, Earth was dubbed “Earthviewer” at its outset. After Google’s acquisition of Keyhole, the project was launched as “Earth” in 2005. Over the years, its reach has expanded beyond this planet, also including renderings of Mars.